


Sweet Candy Cane Kisses

by sapphistication



Series: 'Tis the Season to be Fluffy [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Candy Canes, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Honestly just fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Poe Dameron, useless gays and we love them for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphistication/pseuds/sapphistication
Summary: “He is so sweet,“ Poe sighed, staring at Finn across the cafeteria, “I wanna buy him all the candy in the world and he’d still be sweeter.”Or: The seniors are raising money by selling candy canes with a personal note. Naturally, for Poe and his best friend Jess this comes as the perfect opportunity to tell their crushes how they feel. If only love or words were easy.-----Week 3 of KrampusFluff: candy canes
Relationships: Jessika Pava/Rey, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: 'Tis the Season to be Fluffy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042899
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37
Collections: Krampus Kink-a-thon





	Sweet Candy Cane Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Me: Okay yeah I'm gonna take a break from writing and posting  
> Also me: *writes this 4.4k words oneshot in four hours and it probably shows* 
> 
> ...Please nobody hold me accountable to my own words ever. But also this was so much fun, practically wrote itself, and it is inspired by real-life events because we had the same thing in my senior class, and I still have the three notes I got via candy canes. I love my friends. Hey, give your friends some love! <3
> 
> (Self-edited but it's 2am, so...)

“He is so sweet,“ Poe sighed, staring at Finn across the cafeteria, “I wanna buy him all the candy in the world and he’d still be sweeter.”

“Jesus Christ, Dameron,” Jessika laughed beside him. “You’re a goner. And _weird_ about it! What the fuck is that candy business you’re talking about?” The two of them were sitting on the windowsill all the way across the cafeteria, had excused themselves from their group so they could Talk In Private. Their talking, however, usually just looked like the two of them openly pining over their crushes.

Poe looked away from where Finn was smiling at something Kaydel said, and turned to Jess. The senior fundraising team decided we’d do a kind of candy cane event thing, where we’ll sell them for a dollar each. People can have them sent to their friends to spread some love and kindness before Christmas break. They can even write some cute little notes along with them. It’s gonna be so sweet,” he smiled, then looked back at Finn. “He’s not allowed to be so cute. How does he do that?”

Jess shrugged beside him and leaned against the cold window behind them. “Pretty sure that’s what half the school thinks about you, too.”

Poe grinned. “Possibly. But that’s just because they’re blind. Finn is _right there_.”

“When did you fall so hard anyway?”

Poe snorted and shook his head. “I think it was around the time I saw him be a badass and punch Armitage Hux right in the face, defending a freshman. And then he came over to me and wrapped me in a hug like the sweet, badass, perfect person he is.” He sighed again and then let himself fall sideways into Jess’s shoulder. “ _Jessika_ ,” he whined. “Make him like me. Do you think he does? I hope he does.”

Jess laughed and wrapped her arm around him. “I’ll find out for you if you can find out for me if Rey’s actually gay and into me, or if she just takes my hand all the time for friendship reasons.”

Poe groaned but couldn’t help the laugh. Jesus, they were pathetic. But at least they were in this together. “That’s unfair, Rey doesn’t even like me, she would never tell me.”

“Oh, come on. She likes you just fine!”

Poe stared at her, because he actually wasn’t sure about this. Did Rey like him? Did he like her? They had this weird relationship where they would fight every time they were together, but never in a draining sort of way, and he never took it personal. But maybe she did?

“She does, trust me,” Jess smiled at him. “And you can send her a candy cane, too, write her a note. Like, ‘ _Hey it’s Poe, I’m wondering if we’re friends? I hope we are. You’re swell. Also my friend Jess loves you please make your feelings clear. Regards, P Dameron_ ’,” she snorted.

Poe laughed and elbowed her in the side. But before they could take the ideas further, lunch break was over and they had to return to their classes.

“I think I’ll just send Finn one,” Poe decided, linking his arm with Jess’s as they manoeuvred through the masses.

“Or five.”

“Or five,” he nodded.

And so it was settled. Next Monday and Wednesday they would have the chance to buy the candy canes and write some notes, and Wednesday after that they would be distributed in the classes. That meant that Jess and Poe had a whole week left to think about the notes they would write, if they would go through with it, and who else should get one. Poe’s list amounted to ten canes, Jess wanted to send nine.

“Having friends is expensive,” Jess sighed in mock exasperation, and Poe found himself agreeing. But it was a nice gesture, and everyone deserved a bit of love and kindness.

***

Poe and Jess walked to the tables Rose and Kaydel had put up to sell the candy canes and have people write their notes.

“How’s it going, babes?” Poe asked, stepping behind the tables so they could chat without disturbing paying customers.

“Oh, it’s going great!” Rose grinned. “We might even have to be open on Friday, too, because demand is so high! I think we’ve actually already sold around one hundred candy canes? It’s wild, people love this.”

“I knew they would,” Poe grinned.

Kaydel rolled their eyes. “Only because it was your idea, man.”

“Ey, I’ll take the credit where it’s due,” Poe nudged them, then wrapped his arms around Jess’s middle because he was always in the mood for a hug, and so was she. Kaydel smiled at them while Rose collected money and notes.

“So, you two wanna buy some, too?” they asked.

“Yeah,” Jess smiled and leaned back into Poe, not ready to move. “But, um… Can we, uh—”

“Hey, you!” came Finn’s warm, chipper voice suddenly and interrupted Jess. He was with Rey, as always, and they stepped behind the tables as well, getting weird looks from the non-seniors writing their notes in piles around them. It was very cute to see so many people wanting to do something nice.

“Hi yourself,” Poe smiled and let Jess go to wrap first Rey and then Finn in a hug. Only to be surprised that Finn didn’t let go after the hug, not completely. Instead, he mirrored Jess’s position from a few seconds ago and leaned against Poe. So Poe wrapped his arms around his middle and tried not to be weird about it. They did that sometimes, it wasn’t weird. It didn’t mean anything. Maybe Finn was only doing it to get Rey and Jess to talk.

And it worked, because they were standing there, holding hands between themselves, and Rey smiled while Jess was talking about her perfect grades and the discussion she’d just had with Mr Calrissian. It was sweet, seeing the two of them like that, and Poe rested his chin on Finn’s shoulder, which he could never actually do before, but the table he was sitting on definitely helped matters.

Fuck, he never wanted this to stop. Couldn’t he always hug Finn like that? And never let him go? The way Finn leaned into him was almost cruel in its warmth.

“You bought some candy canes, too?” Finn asked him suddenly, his head angled to the side so it was almost touching Poe’s. Only a few inches between Poe’s lips and Finn’s cheek or his temple or his neck, and it was so wonderful and so cruel because he didn’t know what it _meant_.

“Wanted to,” Poe said. “Just got here and then you two came along, and now we can’t do our not-so-secret Santa anymore because then you’d see.”

Finn chuckled and settled against Poe’s chest more comfortably. Poe tightened his arms almost on instinct. “Aww, you wanna buy some for _us_?”

“Maybe,” Poe murmured and was sure glad that Finn couldn’t see the heat rising to his cheeks.

“You’re so cute, Dameron. I almost wanna buy you all the candy and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

Poe’s heart fluttered in his chest but there was a bit of pain there, too. Pain and hope and the desire to just press his lips to Finn’s neck. He almost did. Just inclined his head a little, breathed deeply, and felt Finn shift against him. Closer, always closer. It was almost impossible that this meant nothing. It was time Poe said something about it. It was time they either went for it, or stopped with this. But stars, did he want it to be the former.

He didn’t say anything to that, couldn’t possibly get any words out that wouldn’t ruin his quite literally sweet plan. And he didn’t know the words yet. Always forgot them when Finn was around.

Instead of buying the right to write notes for the candy canes, the four of them just hung out with Rose and Kay for the rest of the break. Finn and Poe cuddling, Rey and Jess holding hands, Rose and Kaydel rolling their eyes over all of them and their ability to be utterly oblivious.

***

On Wednesday, Poe and Jess tried again, and this time there were fewer people there, so they each paid five dollars and wrote cute little letters on coloured paper to their friends. To Snap and Karé and Iolo and Rose and Kaydel. Jess bought some more and drew a giant dick on the one she wanted to send Poe, in a very artistic manner. Finn got one from her, too, and then some were for teachers because Jess was sweet like that.

Poe did write one to Rey and it said:

> _Hello Rey, you are gay. Lol this is a rhyme I didn’t intend but now I bought this piece of paper and have to roll with it. Just wanna tell you that I’m glad we’re friends but also I hope that we actually are? I’m never sure tbh. Also, and you don’t have this from me, but you and Jess are actually very cute, even though I think she just drew me a giant dick instead of a letter. But that’s us. Anyway, Merry Christmas, thanks for being my friend. Which I think you are. It’s cool if not, no pressure. – Poe._

He squinted at it and considered his options, but it wouldn’t get any better than this. The people that thought Poe Dameron had any chill whatsoever were absolutely wrong and Poe embraced that.

Professor Organa and Mr Antilles got a thank you note, too, because teachers like them deserved more appreciation. He wrote one to Ben Solo because he knew that boy hated Christmas, hated candy canes and anything remotely nice. And the note said:

> _One for you, Benny, because you hate this and I hate you <3_

And then Poe had written nine notes. Only those for Finn were left, and he came up with a whole-ass nothing. Looking at Jess, she was the same, staring blankly at the table.

He put all his notes in the respective boxes to be sorted later, then he walked over to her and pulled her to the side _._

“How do I tell her?” Jess asked immediately, tucking herself under his chin in a hug. “What do I even want to tell her?”

“That you like her,” Poe reminded her gently. “But same.”

She groaned and pulled away, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know words.”

“Again, same,” Poe nodded. “Wanna ask Rose and Kay if we can write the notes at home and hand them in later? They’ll need to go buy the candy canes on Friday, get them ready on Monday and Tuesday after class. I think we could sneak them in then, huh? Sound good?”

Jess sighed and shrugged. “Sounds like a contingency plan, yeah. But I don’t wanna be chicken, though. Why is it so hard to write a goddamn note? I have so many things to say but… I don’t know.”

“We’ll figure it out, Jessie, I promise.”

***

Friday was their last chance to be cute. So, naturally, Poe spent Thursday night sitting at his desk and thinking what he could write Finn. Everything sounded lame and Finn didn’t deserve lame, Finn deserved so much more and Poe had no idea what that meant. So, as always when Poe didn’t have the words he needed, he turned on some music. His _Finn_ playlist, and the first some to come up was _TALK ME DOWN_ by Troye Sivan. It always made Poe yearn extremely, and tonight was no exception. He closed his eyes for a while and saw Finn’s smile, thought of the way they had cuddled earlier this week like it was the most natural thing in the world. And it was. He took Finn everywhere he went simply because the other boy was on his mind constantly. A warm presence there.

With a tiny smile on his lips and a rapidly beating heart, Poe grabbed his pen again and started writing on a pristine, blank sheet of paper.

> _I want to write you something, something sweet and nice like you deserve, but I keep coming up empty. This is not a love letter because it’s not good enough, but I would say it is the next best thing. I hope it is. Because I think about you a lot and maybe I like it a bit too much when we’re cuddling like we do sometimes, but maybe you like it, too? I hope you do. You see, there’s a lot of hope involved in this thing here, but mostly it’s the hope that you won’t hate me. The hope that maybe you like me like that, too, and that you maybe wanna go on a date with me. Sometimes, in my head, I think of you as my boyfriend because I like you so much it has become natural. No matter where I go. It’s almost scary but kind of also really beautiful in the long run._
> 
> _You know me, Finn, I act in extremes. And one of those extremes is that I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re the best person I know and I would really like to be your boyfriend._
> 
> _PS: Sorry if this is weird and you don’t feel the same. No pressure at all, I think I can get over it. You can take your time to think about this, all the time you need, but please don’t ignore this. I don’t deserve that. If you want, meet me by the bleachers after school today. I remember you telling me that you secretly liked it when people meet by the bleachers in the movies. So you can have your own movie moment, if you want to._
> 
> _I think you know who sent this_

He didn’t want to sign it because that made it more real and more scary and more final. Taking a deep breath, Poe read over it again. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but no letter in this world would be long enough to tell Finn exactly what he felt. And it still had to be bound to the candy cane.

Smiling, Poe grabbed the tiny red paper he’d taken from school yesterday, still blank from where he had wanted to write something but kept coming up with nothing. He uncapped his pen again and wrote another note for Finn.

> _If I know you at all, you’ll likely keep that other one as a reminder. But I want you to have something sweet, so I’m sending you another one you can actually eat. x_

Later, as he was getting ready for bed in the early morning hours because life as a senior was even more chaotic if you had a crush, his phone vibrated. A text from Jess. A picture of the several bunched up sheets of paper strewn all over her room, captioned with “ _I need help”._

Poe sympathised deeply and sent her a picture of the letter he was going to give Rose and Kaydel tomorrow so Finn would get it on Wednesday. A few minutes later, his phone vibrated again, several times in a row because double texting was the way to go.

**Pava-Lava:**

::OH MY GOD!!!

::POE!!

::I

::DIE

::HHHHH HE BETTER LOVE YOU BACK!

::BUT I KNOW HE DOES because you’re you and he is finn and youre practically already married buttttttt

::hhhhh

::‘tis beautiful

::and a mess but that’s a given my love

::bruuuuh I have even less words for mine now i hate you

Poe only texted back a few laughing emojis because he was actually excited and on edge about this. He wanted to give the letter to Poe tomorrow first thing in the morning, but he couldn’t. It had to be through a candy cane. Finn deserved this level of romance and cuteness like in those kitschy Christmas movies that were his guilty pleasure.

Jess actually did end up getting herself together and writing a letter she was happy with, only it ended up being 2:27 am that she sent Poe the final draft, which he replied to in the morning before school.

***

“Let’s ask Rose and Kay to help them next week and then tie these to the candy canes ourselves,” Jess said, her arm linked through Poe’s as they were walking toward their friends on Friday during lunch break. “That way we make sure nobody else reads them, and also people don’t ruin our aesthetic.”

Poe grinned and nudged her gently. “Yeah, everything for the aesthetic, all right.”

“Do not underestimate the power of aesthetic, you ass,” Jess laughed.

Rose and Kaydel were excited to have Poe and Jess on their wrapping team because according to them, they had sold way more candy canes than expected, and they would really have to hustle if they wanted everything done on time for distribution on Wednesday.

“We’ll be the four of us, then, Beaumont, Finn and Rey,” Kaydel counted. “Yeah, seven should work fine, thanks guys,” they smiled gratefully while collecting more money from a group of giggling freshman girls.

Rose chimed in, holding out her hand in a grabby gesture. “Pay now and then you can keep your secret little letters and wrap them yourself. And we promise we won’t tell Finn and Rey about it,” she grinned.

Poe blushed but gave Rose three dollars, paying for their two secret ones and the extra note for Finn he put in the box labelled _Seniors_.

“Sure, we’ll be there,” Jess promised, then took Poe’s hand and dragged him away. “I so hope this is gonna work. Think we can pull this off without them noticing?”

Poe smiled at her and nodded. “I’m pretty positive we’ll be so swamped in notes and candy canes, we won’t even have the time to notice fishy business.”

***

Turned out, Poe was right. They had to fasten almost five hundred notes to as many candy canes, but Poe couldn’t find it in him to be annoyed by the load of work. Between the seven of them, it was fun! Kaydel had brought their portable speaker and Christmas music was playing, Rose had brought something to drink and some snacks, and it was an overall fun atmosphere. Efficient, too. Poe and Jess had fastened their notes to the candy canes with great care and precision while Rey and Finn were busy with their own wrapping.

Everything went according to plan. And Poe’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest just thinking about Finn reading the note, the _letter_ , and how this was his last chance to back out. But he didn’t want to. He couldn’t. He needed Finn to know.

A sideways glance to Jess showed him that she’d just gone through the same stages of panic, acceptance and determination. The could do it.

Every last bit of tension bled out of Poe’s body when _Every Snowflake Is Different (Just Like You)_ by My Chemical Romance came on and Kaydel actually jumped on the table and all of them sang along to the song, extremely loud and off-key.

***

Wednesday came eventually, both much slower and much faster than Poe liked. He didn’t know what to expect but his body was high-strung with anticipation. He was practically vibrating out of his skin, and Jess wasn’t any better off. The distribution of the candy canes for seniors wouldn’t happen until after lunch break because they did freshmen, sophomores and juniors first.

Poe was trying so hard to keep his cool and not freak out about this afternoon and whether or not Finn would come to the bleachers, that he hadn’t even thought about getting candy canes himself. And quite a few even, and most of them from his friends with obvious messages. But one of them caught his eye and his heart, because he knew that handwriting. Tiny letters on a bright orange piece of paper, both sides written on from top to bottom. That’s a lot of words Poe read with a fluttering heart.

> _Can’t buy you all the candy, but we all know I tried. For you, I’ll always try. Even try to write this letter and hopefully not fail again. I don’t want to fail because this is important. Because it’s about you, and me. And how I want to buy you all the candy, all the good things in the world. That sounds weird, maybe. But I just always want to be around you and I can’t make this go away. So, maybe I can’t get you all the good things, but maybe I can get you to go on a date with me? A real one. Where we can cuddle and I will know what it means. We I can hold your hand and we can smile about it. Where I can tell you how pretty you are, how amazing, how glad I am that I know you, how you’re the best person._
> 
> _When I think about good things, I think about you. Thank you for that. Merry Christmas._
> 
> _Maybe, hopefully, one day I can write you a proper love letter. I want to. I hope you do, too._
> 
> _Yours entirely._

Poe grinned. At least, he thought he did. He couldn’t be sure because his heart and the lightness in his chest and the way breathing suddenly became funny were the only things he could focus on. That, and the words ‘Yours entirely’. Finn. _Finn_!

He couldn’t breathe, but who needed air in their lungs when they had a letter like this from Finn? Well, certainly not Poe. He wanted to pull out his phone and text Finn, but he couldn’t. Finn never had his phone on during school like a goddamn angel he was. And even so, they would meet. Only one block to go and they could see each other and—

And then what? Were they boyfriends now? Were they going to be boyfriends today? Were they going to kiss? Was Finn going to show up in the first place? Was this maybe just a prank played by someone with a similar handwriting who knew about them?

Naturally, with only calculus to distract him in a less than half-assed way, Poe worked himself into several spirals of joy and panic and anxiety and happiness and rationality in the span of an hour. It was fun. Thankfully, though, they were allowed eat the candy during class because Dr Ackbar always let them eat and drink during his classes.

The moment class was over, Poe had already finished two candy canes. The sweet ones, thankfully, not the mint type. They had collectively decided against mint, only bought the extremely sweet ones.

Still feeling like he was vibrating, running on anxious and ecstatic energy, not quite sure that to expect, Poe made his way to the bleachers behind the gym. It was December, but it wasn’t particularly cold today, so the shaking came from the nerves, the excitement, the anxiety.

Waiting was always the hardest part, because what if Finn wouldn’t come? How long would he even be waiting for, realistically?

Turned out, he needn’t have worried, because just a minute later he saw Finn hurrying toward him, candy cane in his hand and a big fat smile on his face. The sun, already low in the sky, cast him in a surreal light and if Poe had any talent in the creative arts, he would grab a brush and paint a picture. As it was, though, he could only stare, a smile stealing its way onto his lips, so wide it made his cheeks hurt.

“Poe!” Finn called, running toward him, crashing into him in a bruising hug that Poe returned gladly. “You are,” Finn breathed against him, trying to catch his breath and speak at the same time and Poe could only laugh. “The sweetest. Bestest. Wildest person. I loved this,” he raised the candy cane, note still fixed to it. “This is the best thing anyone ever gave me.”

“A candy cane?” Poe asked, just to be an ass, and received a shove in return.

“No, you ass,” Finn laughed. “Feelings! Kindness, sweetness. Honesty. All of that, and just… You.”

The air shifted between them and Poe swallowed. A nod, just slightly. “I mean it, too.”

Finn smiled and took his hand gently. “I know. So do I.”

Poe looked down at their hands, where Finn was stroking his thumb over Poe’s knuckles. “I know.” A silence settled between them and Poe knew that he had asked Finn here, so it was his turn to speak. “So, uh. Finn?” The other boy squeezed his fingers. “I really, _really_ like you. And, um. I know that’s probably backwards and all, but do you maybe wanna be my boyfriend? For real? And we can go on all the dates and I’ll buy you flowers if you want, and… Yeah, it’s backwards. Sorry.”

Finn grinned and huffed out a gentle laugh, unable to hold it back. It was endearing and Poe wanted nothing more than to kiss him.

“Wanna do it even more backwards?” Finn asked, and Poe frowned in confusion. “Because before you say another word, I would really like to kiss you. And then, sure, we can do all the other stuff.”

Poe smiled and he could practically feel his own eyes light up in the face of everything that was Finn. Finn, who wanted to kiss him. Finn, who wanted to be his boyfriend and hold his hand and write him love letters and cuddle for real. Just. _Finn_.

“Yeah, okay,” Poe breathed, nodded, pulled Finn closer with their still entwined hands. “Kissing sounds good.”

Finn let go of Poe’s hand and stepped closer until there was no space between them and Poe had to look up slightly to meet his eyes. In the cold air, their breaths mixed in small clouds between them. Finn cradled Poe’s cheeks, looked him in the eyes with an expression so gentle Poe almost melted on the spot. Then he pressed a kiss to Poe’s forehead, his nose, before dipping his head to meet Poe’s lips in a warm kiss. There was no hurry, no heat, just warmth. Poe deepened the kiss and was delighted that Finn’s tongue tasted just as sweet as his own did.

Soft, warm candy cane kisses from his wonderful boyfriend. It couldn’t get any better than this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this and want more teenage fluff for Finnpoe, I do have a long-ass teenage AU for them called You Look So Alive, which is still a WIP but in a way has a similar energy I would think?  
> Please let me know what you think, this thing wrote itself within a few hours and I have no power here. 
> 
> Also, as always, many thanks to [TheCarrot](/users/TheCarrot/) and [mssrj_335](/users/mssrj_335/) who are oganising this event! <3


End file.
